The Japanese Communist Party remains a "violent revolutionary" group subject to the scrutiny of a law restricting the activities of subversive organizations, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government has declared.

A statement approved by Abe's Cabinet on Tuesday highlighted the government's stance that the leftist JCP continues to uphold its longtime policy of promoting what the National Police Agency calls "violent revolution."

The statement, issued in response to a question by former Democratic Party of Japan lawmaker Takako Suzuki, went on to declare the JCP as being among the organizations targeted by what is known as the anti-subversive activities law.

Yoshiki Yamashita, the high-ranking secretariat chief of the party, responded Tuesday by expressing his strong displeasure over the statement. The party will "lodge a strong protest" with the government and demand that it be retracted, he said.

Originally founded in 1922 as an underground organization, the JCP insists that Japan undergo revolution to transform into a socialist country.

It rocketed into notoriety in the 1950s when it masterminded what the NPA calls a litany of "violent, destructive activities" nationwide — including assaults against police.

Such extremist activities, the NPA says, stemmed largely from a controversial platform the JCP adopted in 1951, in which the party declared it is "wrong" to try to achieve Japan's democratic revolution through peaceful measures.

In the economic field, the JCP has traditionally championed the goal of wrestling power from capitalists and improving the life of the working class. In recent years, the policy has led to its objections to the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade agreement as well as the planned consumption tax hike.